Oakland A's beat New York Yankees after delay when lights go out

OAKLAND -- Not even a delay caused by a bank of left-field lights going dark Saturday night at O.co Coliseum could derail Scott Kazmir.

The A's handed the left-hander a two-year, $22 million contract after he revived his career last season with Cleveland, and Kazmir has done nothing to taint the deal.

He allowed one unearned run and three hits in six innings Saturday as the A's defeated the New York Yankees 5-1 before a sellout crowd of 36,067.

"He's been consistent all year for us," manager Bob Melvin said before the game. "You've got a couple of games where he gave up some runs and took a couple of losses. But I think he's been as consistent as you can be to this point. We always have a good feeling when he takes the mound."

Nobody took the mound for 38 minutes in the middle of the fourth inning because of the lights failure.

The A's led 2-1 at the time. The lights went back on at 8:51 p.m., and play resumed six minutes later.

The A's said a circuit breaker turned off and had to be manually reset.

Kazmir, who warmed up during the delay, allowed a double to lead off the fifth but got out of the inning with the lead in place.

"I had to go up there to the clubhouse to stay warm," Kazmir said. "Once it hit the 30-minute mark, I ended up throwing a simulated inning in the bullpen. That helped me out a lot. As soon as I was done with the last pitches in that simulated bullpen, the lights came on. It worked out perfect."

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Melvin said he was concerned about how the delay would affect his pitcher.

"Mentally, you've got to stay with it," the manager said. "It's tough when you're sitting around that long, and it's cold. You go back out there and have to find that adrenaline again. It was very impressive."

Kazmir (8-2) entered the game ranked among the American League leaders in ERA, opponents' batting average and opponents' on-base percentage. In his past 32 starts, he has allowed no more than one run in 16 of them.

"Just looking at some of the numbers the last couple of years, the consistency has been incredible," Melvin said. "He's been one of the better pitchers in the American League and has really done it almost every time out.

"That's probably the biggest surprise for me is how consistent he's been. For me, the fact that he is truly a four-pitch pitcher now from a guy that has really tweaked the way he was earlier in his career, when he was strictly a power pitcher."

Kazmir got all the runs he needed from second baseman Eric Sogard, who returned to the lineup after missing Friday's game because of a tweaked ankle he suffered fouling a ball off his foot earlier in the week.

Sogard, who entered the game hitting .197, gave the A's a 2-0 lead in the second inning with a two-out, bases-loaded single to center that drove in two.

Three innings later, he fielded Derek Jeter's grounder and threw out Kelly Johnson at the plate to keep the A's in front 2-1.

Sogard led off the bottom of the fifth with a walk and then scored on John Jaso's groundout to first, stretching Oakland's lead to 3-1.

"When you have a few guys that aren't swinging the bat well in the middle of the order, some of the other guys have to take over," Melvin said. "Today it was the bottom of the lineup."

Josh Donaldson continued to slump, going 0 for 4 to run his hitless streak to 0 for 31.

After the seventh inning, he was ejected by home plate umpire Hal Gibson.

"I just asked the guy a question," Donaldson said. "That's it. I'm not gonna talk about it, man. I just went up and asked him a question. I didn't think I deserved to be thrown out. That's all I got."

The A's traded former top prospect Michael Taylor to the Chicago White Sox for minor league right-hander Jake Sanchez.

Taylor, 28, played in only 26 games for Oakland and was currently with Triple-A Sacramento, where the outfielder was the River Cats' franchise leader in games (511), at-bats (1,900), hits (521), and RBIs (325).

Sanchez, 24, made nine starts and 15 appearances for Class A Kannapolis, going 5-4 with a 2.80 ERA and three saves.

The trade could help Taylor, Melvin said, noting that "sometimes a change of scenery invigorates a guy. You feel like you have a new life, to an extent. We wish him the best."

Josh Reddick continued his recovery from a hyperextended right knee, going through what Melvin called a full workout that included batting practice.

But the right fielder, who is eligible to return from the disabled list Monday, might go through a minor league rehab assignment before rejoining the team.

Reddick was injured in a collision with the right-field wall at the Coliseum on May 31.

Yankees first baseman Mark Teixeira was a late scratch because of tightness in his left rib cage. The A's probably did not mind, given that Teixeira has 36 homers against them, the most against any opponent.